Three Way Tie
by A-little-fantasy
Summary: Who will Naruto choose Shikamaru or Sasuke SasuxNaru ShikaxNaru
1. Chapter 1

A lot of time had passed since Sasuke had left the village in the leaves and many people missed him, but no one quite as much as Naruto did, he'd managed to keep it from many of his fellow ninja's but he was undoubtedly in love with Sasuke, he'd tried so hard to get over his infatuation but nothing helped him. The only person he told was his life long friend Shikamaru, granted he wasn't happy when he found out, unlike Naruto with Sasuke, Shikamaru made no effort to hide the way that he felt about his blond friend, his father wasn't too happy about it but many in the village believed the two to be a great couple, Naruto rarely brought up the subject in fact he'd only ever brought it up once and it ended in the two not speaking for weeks. It appeared best if they just left the subject alone, Naruto needed someone like Shikamaru to be there for him, he'd done many stupid things in the past to try and relieve the pain of loosing Sasuke and each and every time Shikamaru had helped him through. This time Shikamaru had been out on a mission and returned to receive sad news of his friend, he wasn't given great details all he knew was that Naruto was unconscious and in the hospital, it didn't take long for him to arrive at the door to his ward as he peered through the door his eyes widened, tubes of all sorts ran out of his body and his lips appeared paler than anything.

"He poisoned himself and overdosed on far too many drugs," Shikamaru turned around to see Shizune a helper of the Hokage's, his eyes then returned to Naruto.

"Why would he do this again, he promised me he wouldn't. Why couldn't Lady Tsunade sort him out? Why did he have to be left in this state?" Shikamaru tried not to let his concern be too obvious and he allowed his voice to sound as boring as ever but he could tell Shizune wasn't buying it.

"Three days non stop she was pulling the toxins from his body, she couldn't manage another it's best we just let the medicine do the work instead of wasting chakra, it's a good job the demon in him didn't give out or he would have never survived," Shizune made her way over to a drip hanging above the blond boy, she replaced it with a new bag and opened the door to leave. "You may stay here the night Shikamaru but I need you gone by ten, besides you have training to complete if you want to advance any more ranks."

Shikamaru smiled at her waited until the door closed before he made his way slowly to Naruto, his hand shook as he placed it over the blonde's and held it tight, his eyes wandered all around the boys body before resting again on his face, his hair had gotten longer and he smiled lightly as he played with a small tuft of it, his smile soon caused a tear to fall down his cheek. It would be lie to suggest that Shikamaru didn't blame himself, for he wished he had decided against taking Kiba's place on the mission, he wished he could have been there so that Naruto at least had someone to talk to and maybe someone to stop him doing something so foolish. After a few minutes Shikamaru sat down in the chair at Naruto's side and he observed the cars on his bedside table, there were one's of Sakura, some of Choji and even a small card off Neji but his eye's fell on a small black card, it stood out from the rest, he hoped more than anything that it wasn't from who he thought it was. His hand gripped the card roughly and he opened it fast not caring if it ripped and he sighed in relief at the contents of it.

_Dear Naruto,_

_I hope you get better._

_Gaara_

Shikamaru smiled at this, it was typical of Gaara to put it short and simply, but at least he got one Shikamaru got up from his seat and promised Naruto he would be back before he went to the shop located in the Hospital, inside were all kinds of cards and flowers and he read through them all until he found one with a small fox cub on it perfect for Naruto, he also found a small book on jutsu's and bought some food for if Naruto should awake after paying for them all he made his way back to the room, wrote the card and placed it with all the others. He placed the food in a small drawer and placed the book along with all his cards, it didn't take too long for Shikamaru to get bored with the room, he had counted every square on the ceiling, every card on the table, every petal on ever flower Naruto had been given and even every cloud that had gone past the window. He was quite shocked that no one else had visited Naruto in all the time he had been there, but he did suppose they all had training and families to get back to, that was one thing Shikamaru didn't bother with, his family, to start with he depended on them fully but when he passed the chunin exams they started to bother him too much to the point where he stayed over at his friends houses whenever possible, he even once stayed over at the dreaded Uchiha's complex. It was one of his least favourite nights, the place was cold and you could smell the depression in the air, the walls were covered in cob webs and it wasn't well lived in, Sasuke told them that he ddn't enjoy the memories that the house had and he wished to ask why he hadn't moved out but the feeling in the air told him not to. They all slept in the living space on small mats, but part way through the night Shikamaru got up to get some air and stumbled into the room that once belonged to Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, it remained clean and was the only room that had a fresh smell about it as he wandered further into the room he saw photo's of a younger Sasuke with his entire family, one's of the ANBU squad and one of the two brothers, the smile on Sasuke's face was one of genuine happiness and it caused Shikamaru some surprise. His eyes then fell upon the wardrobe and as he looked inside he noticed that everything was as it would have been all the years before, just as he was about to open the drawers he noticed a shadow in the door way, he panicked slightly until he saw Naruto in his boxers trying to find the bathroom. Shikamaru quietly closed the door before aiding his friend, no one knew about Shikamaru's discovery and he intended on keeping it that way.

"I knew I'd find you here," Shikamaru jumped slightly in his chair before turning quickly to face the person, he came face to face with Kakashi who smiled down on him.

"Well done, is there any news on when he'll be waking up?" Shikamaru asked hopefully.

"Not yet, but I would expect him to come around soon as long as there are no other complications," Kakashi replied seating himself next to Shikamaru. "So how did the mission go?"

"Well, we completed it but I can't say it went smoothly, I had hoped that we would have finished within a week, no one really expected the ANBU from the rain to be as powerful as they were, but even if we were delayed by another week at least we saved the village from being destroyed," Shikamaru sat back in his chair keeping his eyes locked on Naruto when speaking.

"Yeah I guess so, never underestimate your opponents Shika, it could very well be the worst thing you do," Kakashi's eyes also fell onto Naruto's face and then dropped to the floor. "it's such a shame that this happened while you were away."

"Tell me about it, if I had been here maybe this wouldn't have happened," Shika tried not to let the pain he felt show but the older ninja seemed to notice.

"You shouldn't blame this on yourself Shika, no one expected him to do this and it wasn't your fault Lady Tsunade picked you for the squad but you need as much experience as you can get if your planning to get to Elite Jounin level, you never know you may even get into ANBU," Kakashi smiled and turned towards Shikamaru.

"Yeah, I guess so, I just hope he wakes up soon, I have so much to tell him and I bought him some food too," Shika smiled lightly and looked at the Jounin. "You really think I'll make it?"

"I do indeed, Shikamaru you are a very talented young ninja with a mind brighter than even the Hokage herself with the right training you could be anything you wanted," Kakashi's words lifted Shikamaru's spirits but inside the only thing he really wanted was the recognition of Naruto and to gain the love that he himself felt for the blond returned.


	2. Chapter 2

It took a long time to make Shikamaru want to leave Naruto's ward the next day he'd slept a brief hour and was woken up by Kakashi when he went to train with Sakura, he knew he should be with his team but he didn't want to leave Naruto there eventually he left the room after bidding farewell to the blond boy. He kept his eyes on the bed until he had closed the door to the room and even then he wanted to open the door again and check on his friend, the walk through the village was far too quiet without the old Naruto around, he used to be loud and lively causing trouble whenever he could, even Konohomaru had lost his spirit, sighing he looked up to the sky and let a small smile appear on his lips but it faded as he reached the training ground. As he expected Ino and Choji were already there sparring, Shika just stood there watching them until they noticed his arrival, he could tell that Ino was ready to argue and she stomped over to where he was stood.

"Why are you so late today, I understand that you were on a mission but you had a good nights sleep and we expected you to be here," Ino's hands rested on her hips and her face frowned at him.

"I was at the hospital all night keeping an eye on Naruto," Shikamaru's tone didn't change and Choji looked at him sympathetically.

"I don't care, you should have gone home and rested, we still have to train you know, no matter what condition your friends in, that's the ninja way," Shikamaru was getting slightly annoyed, the lack of sleep really didn't help his mood.

"Come on Ino, cut him some slack we all know how close they are," Choji tried to calm her down and stick up for Shikamaru but Ino simply ignored him and continued on with her rant.

"I don't care, we've been a team for a long enough time for him to know what time we train at and that we should never be late," Ino poked Shikamaru's arm and he gripped the finger hard.

"So when we were all late after what happened to Asuma, you think that was bad, did it matter that we were late then, I don't think it did! He might have been our sensei and close to all of us but Naruto is one of my closest friends along with Choji, no matter if it's the ninja way or not I will never stop caring for my comrades so don't try and make me. Don't shout at me for caring about him and certainly don't treat your team mates like dirt!" Shikamaru glared angrily at Ino who stood there shocked her finger still in his vice like grip.

"I'm sorry," Ino's head dropped.

"Save it," Shikamaru dropped her finger and walked over to a target and began to throw his kunai at it angrily, the tense feeling in the air remained for the entire training session with Ino speaking very little, in a way Choji tried to stay away from the two of them and as soon as it got dark he left.

"Shikamaru, I am sorry, I didn't mean what I said," Ino tried to make her apology as sincere as possible but Shikamaru still looked at her angrily.

"Keep your apology it means nothing to me, why don't you apologise to someone who cares and maybe you should apologise to our sensei he taught us better than that," Shikamaru pointed his finger at the stone which bore their sensei's name at this tears began to fall own the girls face and she fell to the floor sobbing. "What's the point in crying you hurt my feelings, I said horrible things but keep your emotions to yourself when you're around me you don't deserve a sympathy vote this time."

Shikamaru left Ino there inside he did regret what he had said but she needed to know it all, maybe he shouldn't have shouted it at her but there was no other way that she would have listened, the streets were filled with families and friends getting their evening meals and going out for a drink, if Choji had stayed he would have invited him out but he guessed Choji was a bit displeased with him. He let his eyes wander until they rested on Lee, he was wandering around on his own asking if anyone had seen his sensei, Shikamaru made his way over and smiled at him as a way of saying hello.

"Shikamaru, have you seen Gai sensei, I was supposed to be dining with him tonight?" Lee's bright eyes looked at him hopefully but sank when Shika shook his head.

"Sorry Lee, but I was wondering if you don't find him how about we get a group together and we all go and get something to eat?" the question made Lee's eyes sparkle as he hit a dramatic pose causing Shika to sweat drop.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, I shall gather everyone together and we shall meet in two hours, that is a promise," Lee gave a thumbs up and Shikamaru just scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he watched Lee flip away to find their friends.

Shikamaru walked away from the spot and made his way back to the hospital to see Naruto, granted he couldn't be there long as he had to make himself look presentable and after not bathing for a few weeks the smell was annoying him, as he reached the door he peeked in to see Naruto in the same position as he was when he's left earlier that day. He sat himself down and began to talk to the unconscious boy, it took a few minutes for him to realise how stupid he would seem and stopped himself from saying anymore so he just sat in silence until he had to leave for his place to get ready, as expected he was late to meet everyone but when he arrived at the spot which he had spoken to Lee at not everyone was there. Lee smiled at him a she walked over and he noticed how Ino tried to keep her distance, but he did his best to ignore it, the night went on and finally everyone arrived and Shikamaru nearly forgot about his friend in the hospital, nearly being the key word he still every so often thought of him even when the alcohol started pouring.


End file.
